Ancient Aliens

If it is true, as some suggest, that the Earth is being visited by Aliens and UFOs, how long have they been doing so?

Might ancient myths and stories be explained through this new modern insight?

Did humans possess advanced technology in ancient times?

Were other devices like the Antikythera Mechanism wiped out by wars, dark ages, and superstition?

Are we only just now rediscovering Ancient Technologies like Electricity & Magnetism?

Could advanced coastal civilizations have been wiped out by the melting ice caps during the end of the last Ice Age?

The Apollo 11 Sighting

Aliens. Extraterrestrials. Space Men. Whatever you call them, sightings have been around since man first gazed into the skies. And what follows are 15 signs that just may prove they very well exist.

Let's start with NASA. Three Days into the Apollo 11 Mission, the crew reported a strange flying object not far from their location. They assumed it was a piece of the detached SIV-B rocket. That is, until they received word that it was over 6,000 miles away. To this day, the highly-trained crew and team of NASA scientists have no offical explanation for what the object could have been. Even famous astronaut Buzz Aldrin confessed to the sighting!

Continue on for even more fantastic evidence of alien life.

Ancient Signs of Modern Technology

These actual Egyptian Hieroglyphics show what appear to be images of a helicopter, submarine, boat, and jet airplane. Many believe this is proof that aliens once visited the ancient Egyptians, arriving in their advanced technology and leaving behind quit an interesting story for our ancestors to tell. But not as interesting as ou next discovery on the list.

The Battle of Los Angeles

On February 24, 1942, hundreds of reports flooded a local Los Angeles air base claiming to have spotted a UFO. Worried about another Japanese airstrike after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the sky was quickly filled with searchlights that swiftly found the aircraft. Now here’s where it get’s interesting — Even though the unidentified object was hit multiple times with anti-aircraft fire, it appeared to take no damage and soon disappeared into the night, never to be seen again. Continue on for more signs of alien life.

Near Collisions

The number of near-collisions involving UFOs and commercial airlines seems only to grow larger with every passing year. There are countless stories, including one by a veteran airline pilot and his first officer flying into Manchester airport who claim to have seen a large "delta-shaped" object heading right for their position. Just as these highly-trained pilots were about to take action to avoid the craft, it disappeared. Many of these encounters are caught on FAA audio tape, and can be heard here.

Rendlesham Forest Encounter

One of the most intense UFO and alien encounters of all time took place in Suffolk, England. On December 26, 1980, a UFO was detected above Rendlesham Forest that suddenly disappeared. A security patrol was dispatched and noticed a strange glowing object in the woods. The patrol men claimed to have seen a strange glowing spaceship and some even claimed to communicate with alien beings.

The three soldiers who witnessed the event were taken to an underground bunker for interrogation and debriefing, and there they were reportedly sworn to secrecy.

Keep reading for more amazing but true stories of UFO encounters!

Gorman Encounter

On Octover 1, 1948, National Guard pilot Lieutenant George Gorman was flying in his F-51 jet over Fargo, North Dakota when he saw a blinking red light in the distance. The control tower informed Gorman that there was only one other plane in the area, but it was not in the same location as the light.

When Gorman got closer to the light, it started moving at a very high speed. The unknown disc-like object suddenly turned and flew straight at the F-51 before streaking straight up into the night sky. The pilot of the other plane in the area watched the entire chase and confirmed Gorman's story.

Chiles-Whitted Encounter

Commercial airline pilots and World War II veretrans Clarence Charles and Charles Whitted were flying a plane over Alabama on July 24, 1948 when they spotted a strange flying object. This strange object was shaped like a cigar and had windows on the sides.

The pilots saw the UFO for about 10 seconds, and a passenger confirmed their story. If that wasn't convincing enough, almost the exact same description of a UFO was spotted in the Netherlands about a month before!

Shaw Enounter

Englishman Roy Shaw was walking his dog on the night of February 12, 2010 when he noticed a strange object floating in the sky. He described the craft as 100 feet long, circular in shape, and with red and blue lights. According to Shaw, the craft landed at the local lawn bowling club and a 4-foot high figure exited the ship.

When the alien figure started to move toward him, Shaw's dog started growling and he started running. Another dog walker in the area reported seeing the same ship fly away.

Hill Encounter

In 1961, Betty and Barney Hill were driving home in New Hampshire when they saw a light in the sky. They stopped the car to get a look through a pair of binoculars, and the object got close enough to reveal a disc-like shape with windows. After realizing that they had lost a few hours of time, the couple got scared and went home.

The couple both started complaining of pain and nightmares after the event, and were subjected to hypnosis as treatment. Each one individually described being abducted and experimented on by bald aliens. The craziest thing is that Betty Hill also drew a diagram of a star system that wasn't disovered until 1969!

Crop Circles

Crop circles are large patterns made in farmers fields with distinctive geometric shapes that began popping up in England in the late 1970's. While many of these circles have been explained away as teenage vandalism, there are still many people who believe they are the work of aliens.

Cow Mutilation

Since the late 1960's American ranchers have been plagued by this strange occurrence. Every once in a while, and completely without warning or reason, a rancher will awake to find the cows on his ranch completely mutilated. Often covered in strange cuts and burns with pieces of the cows entrails missing. After examination veterinarians are unable to find any evidence that the cattle had been attacked by wild animals. Instead ranchers believe this is the work of other-worldly visitors.

The Disappearance of Flight 370

The disappearance of Flight 370 has been all over the news of late because of the level of mystery surrounding the plane's sudden vanishing. It's no wonder then that a lot of people have put forth the theory that the entire plane was abduced by aliens.

Scientists believe the discovery of five Earth-sized planets around a distant star in the Milky Way galaxy increases the possibility of finding another rocky planet where water and life exist.

Ancient Alien Life:

While the rocky, Earth-sized planets are too close to their sun and too hot for life, they could be more ubiquitous than previously believed because of the fact that they were formed billions of years ago, the time when the galaxy was still in its infancy.

Ancient Aliens: Alien Messages S07E12

There are those who believe that embedded in our most sacred religious texts, as well as in the design and location of ancient monuments, are secret messages – messages that may reveal the purpose behind our very existence. Could it be true? Strange and cryptic communications with unknown meaning have been discovered all across the globe throughout every known civilization. Might the key to unlocking the mysteries of the universe be found hidden in numerological, geometrical, and geological puzzles left for us to solve by extraterrestrial beings that came to Earth thousands of years ago? Are humans being tested? Have we learned enough to crack the codes necessary to decipher these messages? And if so, might our understanding of them allow us to finally be reunited with our celestial ancestors?

UFO Researchers and Authors Re-Visit Aztec Saucer Crash Site

The book titled “The Aztec Incident – Recovery at Hart Canyon,” by UFO researchers Scott and Suzanne Ramsey, published in 2012, will get an expanded and updated edition. The author couple returned to Aztec recently from their home in North Carolina to work on the new edition of their book. After over 25 years of research, they traveled once again the sandstone mesas of Hart Canyon. Located around 8 miles northeast of Aztec, the Hart Canyon is the area where many believers say an unidentified flying object crash landed 67 years ago.

Scott and Suzanne believe there was a cover-up of the incident involving a UFO that crash landed in the Hart Canyon, which allegedly resulted in the death of 16 child-like aliens. The story about the crash originated from a pair of oilfield workers who reportedly run to the Arkansas Loop of the canyon after seeing a fire near El Paso Oil Company drip tanks.

In 2012, the Ramseys installed a sign in the place of a crash informing visitors that the American government and the military discovered a spacecraft of unknown origin, and they made efforts to conceal it to the public. The recoveries are said to be similar in Roswell eight months earlier. Estimated to measure 100 feet in diameter and 18 feet tall, the unknown object was one of the most intact craft that the government had recovered at that time. Sadly, all occupants reportedly died in the crash, making the full disclosure impossible. The occupants were estimated to be as many as 16.

However, the Ramseys are not about to give up yet on the story. Scott Ramsey said that all leads are still out there, and the book will be expanded significantly in the new edition. Though no specifics about it, he gave a hint regarding a San Juan County commissioner or an Aztec city commissioner who may have witnessed the flying saucer in 1948.

Suzanne Ramsey added that the new book is more than an expanded edition because they have “all-new information” on the same topic, making the book different and exciting.

The couple traveled to 26 states gathering data and interviewing witnesses as well as their families, which cost them more than $500,000. Scott Ramsey said it had been 27 years since they began their research. Stanton T. Friedman, a nuclear physicist, wrote the foreword to “Aztec Incident.” The new edition of the book is set to release in December.

Scientists found planets in the distant solar system with sizes that range between Mercury and Venus. They analysed gathered data by NASA’s Kepler space telescope, which already confirmed 1,013 true planets from more than 4,000 identified planetary candidates.

The five exoplanets orbit around the star named as Kepler-444, which is 25 percent smaller than the Sun. Found 117 light years away in the constellation Cygnus and Lyra, Kepler-444 formed 11.2 billion years ago, less than twenty percent of the age of the galaxy and far before the formation of the Sun.

It means that this solar system is the oldest group of terrestrial-sized planets ever discovered in the Milky Way, around 2.5 times older than the Earth, according to the study published in the Astrophysical Journal.

Tiago Campante of the University of Birmingham stated that the discovery of ancient Earth-sized planets, which formed throughout the Universe, could provide scope of ancient life’s existence.

Dr Campanete said the planets in this system were already older than today’s Earth by the time the latter formed. So, the discovery can help nail the start of what scientists might call the ear of planet formation, explained Dr Campanete.

Valentich Encounter

A lot of airplanes and ships have disappeared throughout history, but none of them were quite like the flight of Frederick Valentich. The Australian pilot reported that he was being followed by a UFO. Valentich described the craft as metallic and shiny with a green light, as it flew around erratically. This encounter wouldn't be so unique if it wasn't for the final transmission he sent to Melbourne Air Traffic Control before disappearing.

"Melbourne that strange aircraft is hovering on top of me again... it is hovering and it's not an aircraft..." Those the last words of Frederick Valentich were followed by a long metallic scraping sound that could not be explained by experts.

Washington D.C. Encounter

The skies above Washington D.C. were filled with strange sightings in the month of July, 1952. On July 19, an air traffic controller at Washington National Airport noticed seven unidentified objects on the radar. The UFOs were apparently hovering above a radio beacon before suddenly disappearing.

If that wasn't strange enough, the exact same incident happened one week later. Two fighter jets were scrambled to the position of the spotting, and one of the planes spotted several balls of light moving around.

Spencer Encounter

A retired London police officer named Phillip Spencer was living in Ilkley Moor and taking photographs when he saw a strange, small creature in the distance. He yelled out and snapped a picture, but the creature waved its arm and ran off at a fast speed. A loud humming noise followed and a large silver UFO disappeared up into the clouds.

Spencer discovered that he was missing several hours of time and that his compass wasn't working. He later revealed being abducted and experimented on while under hypnosis. Photography experts examined Spencer's photograph and determined that the image was not faked.

Taylor Encounter

Robert Taylor was a forester headed out into the woods with his dog on November 5, 1979 to check on some saplings he planted. After reaching a clearing in the forest, he was shocked to find a large spherical spacecraft in front of him. The ship apparently had the ability to change colors to blend into the environment, but the exterior looked similar to black sandpaper.

When Taylor approached the ship, two spiked balls rolled out that attatched themselves to his pant legs and emitted a poisonous gas that made his pass out. When he woke up later, the ship gone, his dog was barking, and he was initially unable to speak or walk. A police investigation revealed enexplainable imprints on the ground of the forest clearing, and could not determine what tool was used to tear Taylor's pants.

Belgian Encounters

The country of Belgium experienced not just one UFO encounter, but an entire wave of sightings in the 1990s. The first incident involved a pair of unknown objects flying through the sky chased by F-16s. Each object was roughly triangular in shape and had 3 lights that changed color. The chase was seen by thousands of people on the ground, and over 2,000 reports were filed.

The fighter jets attempted to shoot them down, but the UFOs always moved out of missile lock at the last second. To accomplish this feat, the UFOs accelerated from 100 mph to around 700 mph and changed altitude in an instant.

Arnold Encounter

In 1947, a private pilot named Kenneth Arnold was flying over the Cascade Mountains looking for the remains of a downed airplane. While flying, he spotted a flash of light in the distance. Arnold reported nine bright objects moving toward Mount Rainer at an impossibly fast speed, with the lead one being crescent-shaped and the others being disc-shaped.

The objects quickly disappeared, but Arnold's account became widely publicized and popularized the term "flying saucer."

Phoenix Lights Encounter

One of the most widely-seen UFO events in history was recorded on March 13, 1997 in the skies above Phoenix, Arizona and other cities in the Southwestern United States. A massive UFO was spotted in the air with bright lights along the bottom. The craft was V-shaped and was approximately a mile long. Because the craft went right over the city of Phoenix, thousands of people witnessed the strange event.

Gatay Enounter

In 1954, a WWII veteran named George Gatay was in charge of a construction crew in Nouatre, France when he had a strange feeling. He started walking around as if someone was leading him around, and he ended up in front of a strange alien being. The alien was wearing a diver-like suit and was standing next to a strange hovering craft.

Suddenly, the alien disappeared and the spacecraft started to rise into the air with a whistling noise. After a few seconds, it disappeared as well. Two workers also saw the event, and everyone on the crew suffered from headaches and insomnia.

Jividen Encounter

Squadron Captain Larry Jividen took off from the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida on the night of February 6, 1975. On his way back to the base, Jividen noticed a red circular light in the distance. After hearing that there were no other planes in the area, he decided to get a closer look.

The red UFO suddenly flew directly at the plane and then stopped a short distance in front of it. After a five minute chase, Jividen wasn't able to actually catch the UFO before it sped off into the distance. The authenticity of Jividen's encounter was later verified by retired Army Col. John Alexander.

Napolitano Encounter

Most people feel safe in their own home, but aliens abducted a woman named Linda Napolitano right out of her own apartment in Manhattan. Napolitano claims that a UFO was hovering outside her bedroom window at 3:00am and that aliens took her onto the ship.

It sounds unbelievable until you hear the fact that Javier Perez de Cueller, a United Nations statesman, and his bodyguards actually witnessed the event. However, the investigator of the Napolitano case could not get Cueller to go public with the information.

Nuclear Missile Failure

In 2010 Warren Air Force base in Wyoming lost control of their 50 nuclear war heads due to a communications interruption between the control tower and the weapons. According to many witnesses the interruption coincided with reports of UFO activity in the area, leading many to believe that the weapons failure was due to alien activity.

Bermuda Triangle

There's no need to list the hundreds and hundreds of unexplained circumstances surrounding the Bermuda Triangle because they're mostly common knowledge. Disappearances of military jets followed by sudden reappearances. Every paranormal phenomenon on the planet has been experienced there. And of course a large majority of people believe it has something to do with aliens.

Uffington White Horse

The Uffington White Horse is a 110 meter image of a horse in England created by the digging of trenches which were then filled with white chalk. Being as the image is only visible from an aerial view and air travel was not possible at the time of it's creation, many speculate that it was a way for primitive peoples to signal alien visitors.

Stonehenge

Another amazing creation by ancient people is Stonehenge. These massive rocks were moved into place and constructed with out the help of any modern technology. Many people believe these stones mare ancient alien landing spaces.

Chat With Aliens

Every day Google answers more than one billion questions from around the world. But here are 15 things you might not have ever known you can do with the world's most powerful search engine.

For example, the Mars Feature on Google Earth 5 allows users to explore the surface of the red planet and even talk with an alien! Just enter “Meliza” into the search box and watch as your taken to a section of the planet where you can “chat” with a local alien. It's just a chat bot, but it's fun to try. Give it a shot.

Bob White’s Great UFO
Artifact Mystery—Solved!(Sometimes All it Takes is Finding the Right Expert.)

by Pat Linse, with Ean Harrison

Apsychic was taking phone calls on a late night radio show. His next caller was clearly upset—you could hear the fear in his voice. “I think I might be possessed” he confessed. “When I drive at night the street lights often turn off as I approach. I’m afraid it might be a warning that something terrible is about to happen.” The psychic tried to reassure him, “You definitely have some kind of extraordinary power, but it’s not necessarily negative. The lights that go out could mean that one phase of your life is over and you are about to enter a new one…”

As the psychic droned on about focusing on the positive and seeking out new opportunities, the phone lines lit up at the radio station. Dozens of people were trying to get through to offer an explantation for the ominous behavior of the street lights. They were all from one specific profession, but they were not scientists or psychologists.

The psychic’s explanation to the frightened man was suddenly cut off and a new voice came on the air. “We would like to let our listeners know that our phone lines have been jammed by people who have a very straightforward explanation for the caller’s problem. They are auto mechanics and they are all suggesting that the caller have his headlights adjusted. If headlights are aimed too high they trigger the daylight sensor on streetlights and turn them off. It’s a common problem.”

Luckily for the caller, the right experts were listening to provide a solution. Those familiar with skeptical literature are aware of James Randi’s tireless effort to point out that many supposed paranormal mysteries that have stumped scientists can be solved by the expertise of magicians.

Now another mystery has been solved with information provided by the right expert. The solution calls to mind Michael Shermer’s frequent admonition, “Before you say something is out of this world, make sure it isn’t of this world.”

Bob White’s UFO Artifact

The late Bob White’s mysterious object (see photo above) is touted on the internet as hard evidence for the existence of UFOs: “This isn’t the smoking gun—this is the bullet!!!!” And it has been included on or near the top of UFO “best evidence” lists.1, 2 In 1985, according to White’s sworn deposition, he was napping as he and a companion drove west through the desolate country between Grand Junction, CO and the Utah border. After 2 or 3 in the morning White’s friend woke him for a second time—the odd light they’d noticed before in the sky seemed to be getting bigger. White recalled:

[The light] was about the size of a full harvest moon… As we got closer, it grew larger… When we were a few hundred yards from it, I turned off the ignition and we coasted up close to it… It was huge, the size of a very big barn. I got out of the car…for a better look. For some unknown reason, Jan turned on the headlights, and this light went up in the sky as fast as my eyes could follow it… Then I saw another small light, bright orange with a tinge of yellow, white, and blue falling from it… I climbed the incline and went over to where I thought it might have hit. I found a groove in the ground about 18 inches deep and 9 inches wide. I followed the groove and there it lay… it was still glowing.3

White stashed the object in his trunk, and fearing that the story would harm his entertainment career, said nothing about it until after he retired.

From 1996 to his death in 2009, the now retired Bob White devoted himself to promoting his artifact as a piece of hard evidence for the existence of extraterrestrial engineering. His quest was not without its frustrations—his artifact, if genuine, should have been one of the greatest discoveries of all time—but he did manage to attract some media attention. He gave interviews, spoke at UFO conventions, wrote a book titled UFO Hard Evidence (Galde Press 2004), set up a small museum to house his artifact (where he is said to have offered the object for sale for ten million dollars), and was featured on a number of TV shows.

Production budgets of shows like the History Channel’s UFO Hunters, Unsolved Mysteries, and Jane Goldman Investigates (a series produced in the UK) allowed him to present the object to scientists for testing, with mixed results. While it was easily established to be made of aluminum, it had no apparent working parts. UFO enthusiasts focused on proving its extraterrestrial origin by suggesting the composition of the metal matched nothing on earth. They compared isotope ratios in the object to those of meteors, tried to establish that it emitted unusual radioactivity, or focused on inclusions and trace elements in the metal. No one seemed to wonder why a supposedly sophisticated piece of alien technology looked like it had been unceremoniously hacked off at one end.

Ancient aliens is the idea that aliens visited earth in the past. The idea of ancient aliens is not a new one either. Imagination is one of the most powerful tools in humanity’s evolutionary struggle for survival. As a race, we are hardwired to consider important concepts, such as the creation of life on Earth and the history of people on this planet. At some point, we are all presented with various explanations and theories regarding the expansion of human life on Earth. In the long history of mankind, the majority of these concepts have followed religious teachings, and the power of a spiritual God or Gods. In modern times, many people have come to challenge these claims.

The idea of evolution has been used to describe the gradual change of traits that living organisms undergo over time, which is related to the environment, but it doesn’t explain how the biological cells of human’s first ancestor were spawned. Because of the fact that everyone is interested in the creation of life on Earth, and concurrently we have been taught to believe in the power of religion and the impossibility of alien life, the idea that this article will be examining is controversial. It will be based around some concepts that have been labeled absurd by the scientific community, but let your imagination go, and have some fun with the list.

The idea surrounding ancient aliens is a basic one. It states that the human population was influenced by a group of extraterrestrials that visited Earth in the past. The ancient aliens were directly involved in the evolution of primates, including humans. It has been suggested that this was accomplished by way of genetic engineering, cross-breeding, or a combination of both, ultimately helping in the development of human cultures, technologies and religion. The idea first gained widespread exposure with the 1968 publication of Chariots of the Gods by Erich von Däniken, but the concept has been around since the middle of the 19th century. A common variant of the idea includes proposals that deities from most, if not all, religions, including angels and demons, are actually extraterrestrials whose advanced technologies were taken by people as evidence of a divine status.

This concept is related to the religious practice of a cargo cult, which can be seen in modern day pre-industrial tribal societies. Especially during World War II, when indigenous people were contacted by soldiers with advanced equipment, such as guns and tanks. The cults subsequently attempted to obtain wealth through magic and religious rituals and practices. The ancient alien theory states that extraterrestrials purposely tricked the human population into believing they were Gods, creating religion to help people evolve more efficiently. The Fermi paradox is the apparent contradiction between high estimates of the probability of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations and the lack of evidence for, or contact with, such civilizations.

It has been proposed that, with the current age of the universe and its vast number of stars, if the Earth was typical, extraterrestrial life should be common. In response to this paradox, the zoo hypothesis has been suggested. It states that aliens generally avoid making their presence known to humanity, or avoid exerting an influence on development, somewhat akin to zookeepers observing animals in a zoo, or experimental scientists observing a study of life. Adherents of the hypothesis feel that the Earth and humans are being secretly surveyed using equipment located on Earth, or elsewhere in the Solar System. Charles Fort’s unpublished 1915 manuscript, novel X, describes how Martian beings or Martian events control life on Earth. Fort ultimately burnt the manuscript, but one surviving quote from it is “The Earth is a farm. We are someone else’s property.”

The extraterrestrial hypothesis is the theory that some unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are best explained as being extraterrestrial life or non-human aliens from other planets. The idea sounds simple to modern day humans, but it a relatively new concept that originated out of the saucer sightings and close encounters of the 1940s-1960s. Thousands of UFO sightings have been reported in the last 50 years, and one of the emerging themes in these events is the Men in Black. The Men in Black are men, or aliens, dressed in black suits who have been reported to harass or threaten UFO witnesses to keep them quiet about what they have seen. In most cases, the men claim to be government agents, but it is often suggested that they may be ancient aliens themselves.

People who have reported an encounter with the Men in Black often describe them as men of short stature with a deeply tanned and dark complexion. According to the accounts, Men in Black always seem to have detailed information on the person they contact, as if the individual had been under surveillance for a long period of time. They have been described as seeming confused by the nature of everyday items such as pens, eating utensils or food, as well as using outdated slang. Those who have encountered them say they produce identification, but when verification is later sought, the people described do not exist or have been dead for some time. Another defining characteristic of the Men in Black is wide grins and disconcerting giggles.

The phenomenon has been frequently reported since the 1950s and 1960s, but some researchers, including John Keel and others, have suggested similarities between the Men in Black reports and earlier demonic accounts. Keel suggests that the beings are a modern-day manifestation of the same phenomena that was earlier interpreted as the devil, or encounters with fairies. The term “the black man” has been used for centuries in reference to the Devil. In history, the Black Man was often reported as meeting with the accused and having sexual intercourse with them. Old Scratch or Mr. Scratch is another folk name for The Devil that is used in the local legends of New England and pre-Civil War America.

During the Middle Ages, the black man was not a person with African features, but rather a man colored black and dressed in black. In modern times, another phenomenon known as the Grinning Man has become associated with the Men in Black, and various reports of paranormal activity. These creatures are larger and characterized by a wide grinning face. In most cases, people describe a strange sensation of not being able to focus in on the Grinning Man. It has been suggested that the smile is an attempt by the aliens to conform to society and keep humans feeling safe, but in all reports the figure is described as extremely creepy. In the Half-Life series of first-person shooter video games, there is a mysterious character named G-Man that parallels some of the Men in Black descriptions.

During WWII, the term foo fighter was used by Allied aircraft pilots to describe the various UFOs and mysterious aerial phenomena seen in the skies over both the European and Pacific Theater of Operations. In the wake of the war, the world entered an era of substantial achievement and technical advancement. One such example is the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, which is a United States aircraft that was developed in the early 1960s. The SR-71 Blackbird is a strategic reconnaissance aircraft that currently holds the air speed record. In 1903, Wilbur Wright set the aircraft speed record going 6.82 mph (10.98 km/h). In 1976, the SR-71 Blackbird went 2,193.2 mph (3,529.6 km/h). The craft was manned by Eldon W. Joersz during the record flight, but is highly capable of taking off and landing unassisted.

In modern times, organizations have been developed, such as the Disclosure Project, which have alleged the existence of a world government cover-up of information relating to unidentified flying objects and alien encounters. People argue that the technical advancements humans have experienced since WWII have been achieved with the help of extraterrestrial life and equipment. Proponents of the ancient aliens theory have suggested that the development of nuclear weapons sparked an increased interest in humanity’s evolutionary path, ultimately leading to an era of mass abductions and close encounters. Some others point to the current global climate disruption and apocalypse predictions, identifying them as a precursor for the secret extraterrestrial involvement and intervention on Earth, ensuring the survival of life.

Greys are a proposed alien species that is most widely associated with the alien abduction phenomenon. It has been alleged that Greys are intelligent extraterrestrials who visit Earth and secretly perform medical experiments on humans. Paranormal claims surrounding the Greys are different in many ways, including their nature, moral dispositions, intentions and physical appearances, some having a different skin color. A composite description derived from overlap claims would have Greys as small bodied, sexless beings with smooth grey skin, an enlarged head and large eyes. They are described as humanoid beings that possess reduced forms of, or a completely lack of, external human organs such as noses, ears or sex organs.

Their bodies are usually depicted as being elongated, having a small chest, and lacking in muscular definition. According to a 1995 study among reports of alien encounters, Greys make up approximately 50% in Australia, 43% in the United States, 90% in Canada, 67% in Brazil, 20% in Continental Europe, and around 12% in Great Britain. It has been proposed that the home planet of these beings is located in the Zeta Reticuli star system. Greys are therefore sometimes known as Zeta Reticulans. People have reported two distinct groups of Greys, with one being much taller. This had led to the suggestion that the smaller Greys are not biologically alive, but instead an artificially constructed robot or cyborg servant.

People have described the Greys as staring into their eyes when conducting mental procedures. This staring, which is performed directly in your face, is claimed to induce hallucinogenic states or directly provoke different emotions. According to English reproductive biologist Jack Cohen, the typical image of a Grey, given that it would have evolved on a world with different environmental and ecological conditions from Earth, is too physiologically similar to a human to be credible as an alien species. This brings us to the theory that these extraterrestrial beings had some influence on the evolution of life on Earth in the distant past, or that they are an ancient race of humans that was forced to abandon Earth, but still watches over the planet.

Val Camonica, Italy, is one of the largest valleys of the central Alps, in eastern Lombardy. It is the location of a set of ancient paintings that are believed to depict forgotten deities. The pictures resemble modern day astronauts, despite being painted around 10,000 BC. I can see the resemblance to a space suit, but I am more impressed with the modern day photographic evidence that was captured by the Solway Firth Spaceman photograph. On May 23, 1964, Jim Templeton, a firefighter from Carlisle, Cumberland, took three pictures of his five-year-old daughter while on a day trip to Burgh Marsh, situated near Burgh by Sands and overlooking the Solway Firth in Cumbria, England.

The only other people reported on the marshes that day were a couple of old ladies, and although cows and sheep would have normally been plentiful, they were huddled together at the far end of the marsh. In the second image captured by Templeton, a white figure can be seen in what looks like a space suit. Templeton insists that he did not see the figure until after his photographs were developed, and analysts at Kodak confirmed that the photograph was genuine. To this day, the picture remains unexplained and a source of international fascination. When the picture was taken, in 1964, human space suits were in their extreme infancy. It has been suggested by some people that the figure is merely someone with their back to the camera, perhaps wearing a hat or helmet.

Upon the national release of the photograph, Jim Templeton claimed that he was visited by two men who, he says, came from Her Majesty’s Government. The men tried to make Templeton admit that he had photographed a person, but he refused. In the same time frame that the picture was taken, a Blue Streak missile launch at the Woomera Test Range, using Cumbrian-built weaponry, was aborted because of two large men who were witnessed on the firing range. The technicians reported that the figures resembled the Solway Firth Spaceman. Ufologists have used the photograph as evidence that extraterrestrial life has influenced the modern day space program, including space suits.

Cattle mutilation is a term that has been adopted to describe the apparent killing, and then mutilation, of cattle under unusual or anomalous circumstances. Sheep and horses have also been mutilated, and the phenomenon is not specific to cattle. A hallmark of these incidents is the surgical nature of the mutilation. The creatures are often found completely drained of blood, with missing internal organs. There is no obvious point of entry, and the surgically precise removal of the animal’s reproductive organs and anal coring is consistent. Another strange occurrence surrounding the mutilations is that the animal’s bodies are found dumped in an area where there are no marks or tracks leading to or from the carcass, even when the body is found in soft ground or mud. The surgical-type wounds observed appear to be made by intense heat and a very sharp/precise instrument.

Often flesh will be removed to the bone in an exact manner and location, such as around the jaw exposing the mandible. The first largely reported case of mutilation occurred near Alamosa, Colorado, in 1967. The event involved a horse named Lady, who was discovered with her head and neck skinned. The cuts on the horse were very precise and no blood was found. According to Lady’s owner, there was a strong medicinal odor in the air that surrounded the corpse. At the scene, fifteen tapering, circular exhaust marks were punched into the ground. This evidence was discovered over an area of some 5000 square yards. Similar to other cases of animal mutilation, the area surrounding Lady showed an increase in radiation levels. By the mid 1970s, mutilated cattle were reported in 15 US states and in many other areas all over the world.

Many of the accounts include unexplained lights, sounds and UFOs. It has been noted that mutilated cattle are avoided by large scavengers, such as coyotes, wolves, foxes, dogs, skunks, badgers and bobcats for several days after death. Similarly, domestic animals are reported to be visibly agitated and fearful of the carcass. According to Dr. Howard Burgess, nearly 90% of mutilated cattle are between four and five years old. Laboratory reports carried out on some of these animals have shown unusually high or low levels of vitamins or minerals in tissue samples, and the presence of chemicals not normally found in animals.

In one case involving a 1978 mutilated cow in New Mexico, samples from the animal’s liver were found to be completely devoid of copper and to contain four times the normal level of zinc, potassium and phosphorus. As you would suspect, a government cover-up has been offered as an explanation for the deaths. This is often fueled by the reported presence of black helicopters near mutilation sites. Various hypotheses have been written, suggesting that cattle mutilations have been committed by aliens who are gathering genetic material for unknown purposes. Proponents of the ancient alien theory suggest that, as cows make up a significant part of the global human diet, a study is being carried out on this element of the human food chain.

Over the years, it has been scientifically observed that the Earth’s Moon holds some strange characteristics. The Moon is the 5th largest natural satellite in the Solar System. It is believed to have been created by a giant impact between the young Earth and a Mars-sized body. After examination, it has been noted that the Moon is apparently in the wrong orbit for its size, according to its current assumed density. Astronomy data indicates that the internal regions of the Moon are less dense than the outer, giving rise to the inevitable speculation that it could be hollow. Some of these claims come from the fact that when meteors strike the Moon, it rings like a bell. More specifically, when the Apollo crew, on November 20, 1969, released the lunar module, after returning to the orbiter, the module impact with the Moon caused their seismic equipment to register a continuous reverberation like a bell for more than an hour.

In July of 1970, members of the then Soviet Academy of Sciences, Michael Vasin and Alexander Shcherbakov, proposed the Spaceship Moon Theory. The pseudoscientific theory claims that the Earth’s moon may actually be an alien spacecraft. Vasin and Shcherbakov’s thesis was that the Moon is a hollowed-out planetoid created by unknown beings with technology far superior to any on Earth. Huge machines would have been used to melt rock and form large cavities within the Moon. The Moon would, therefore, consist of a hull-like inner shell and an outer shell made from metallic rocky slag. The “Spaceship Moon” was then placed into orbit around the Earth. Proponents of this theory point to the increased reports and pictures of UFOs taken by NASA on their missions to the moon. It has been found that asteroids and meteors not only create shallow craters on the Moon’s surface, but produce a convex floor to the crater instead of concave as expected, supporting the idea of a rigid shell.

The moon is far older than previously expected, maybe even older than the Earth or the Sun. The oldest age for the Earth is estimated to be 4.6 billion years old, while Moon rocks were dated at 5.3 billion years. The chemical composition of the dust upon which the rocks sit is remarkably different from the rocks themselves. This indicates that the lunar surface may have been moved from somewhere else and placed on the Moon. Some of the Moon’s craters originated internally, yet there is no indication that the Moon was ever hot enough to produce volcanic eruptions. Hundreds of moonquakes are recorded each year that cannot be attributed to meteor strikes. Some of the quakes seem to follow a specific schedule.

The moon’s crust is much harder than originally presumed. When NASA was recorded drilling down a few inches into the Moon’s surface, it appeared that metal shavings were visible. Earth’s moon is the only natural satellite in the Solar System that has a stationary, near-perfect circular orbit. How does one explain the coincidence that the moon is just the right distance, coupled with just the right diameter, to completely cover the sun during an eclipse? Professional astronomers have been gradually discouraged from investigating a phenomenon that has been reported on the Moon for 1,000 years. It is short-lived light, color, or other changes in the appearance of the lunar surface, referred to as Transient Lunar Phenomena.

Maybe Ancient Aliens Are Out There After All

The concept of alien life visiting Earth, particularly in ancient times to plant the seeds of knowledge amidst early human minds, has gone through a renaissance over the last few years. Every few decades, trends (including this one) will appear to go through short little bursts of revitalization, almost like mystery signals leaping from the otherwise desolate void of space, and calling to us with promises of things greater and more distant than ourselves or the knowledge we have attained.

While the concept of “ancient aliens” has been entertained by some of the brightest minds, the concept is generally attributed to–of all people–Carl Sagan, who posited as early as 1966 that what he called paleo-contact might account for knowledge brought to Earth by extraterrestrials, in a book he coauthored with astrophysicist I.S. Shklovski called Intelligent Life in the Universe. Earlier roots predating Sagan and Shklovski’s writing have been linked to H. P. Lovecraft and his mythos of “Elder Gods” who could fling themselves about the stars, and occasionally land here on Earth to wreak havoc.

More recently, the theme of “ancient aliens” may have arisen again in the realm of science literature, but in a far more literal sense: that having to do with alien civilizations so old that they are, quite literally, ancient.

The recent discovery of a planetary system dubbed Kepler-444 had spurred discussion about what astronomers refer to loosely as a “period of planetary formation.” Kepler-444 is around 117 lightyears away, and is only about 3/4 the size of our own Sun. Its planets, though smaller than Earth, are surprisingly bright, becoming visible on a clear night using only slight magnification that a good pair of binoculars might provide.

Following a statement released by Kepler scientists on the discovery, io9 reported:

“Kepler-444 is the oldest known system of terrestrial-size planets,” write the authors in the study. “We thus show that Earth-size planets have formed throughout most of the Universe’s 13.8-billion-year history, providing scope for the existence of ancient life in the Galaxy.”

Estimated to have been in existence for as much as 13.8 billion years–roughly the same length of time the Universe is believed to have been around itself–planets capable of accommodating the conditions of a “planetary oasis” the likes of Earth might have existed a long time ago. Which, of course, is another concept that isn’t really new for science fiction fans:

The more literalist interpretation of “ancient aliens” would have such ancient, highly-advanced races visiting Earth to share principles of science, agriculture, architecture, and other concepts with ancient people; some believe that legends prevalent among some modern cultures, including the Dogon of Africa, indicate that these very sorts of interactions did occur. Critics of the idea argue that utilizing myths and cultural traditions to explain actual events on par with today’s science fiction is entirely speculative, and unlikely at best.

But while we’re mentioning the practice of speculation, let’s assume for a moment that an advanced alien civilization did exist in ancient times. Presuming that they were indeed advanced enough, such a civilization might have harnessed the power of the atom, and perhaps even more than just atomic power. If advanced enough, our hypothetical alien race might have even harnessed technology that would bend the nature of time and space to their will, hence overcoming our most far-out ideas like warp speed, and even time travel. In the event that the latter were the case, what if purported alien visitations in the present day were, in fact, time travelers from the ancient past, skipping around to different points in history, and perhaps also to different planets in history, just as well?

It’s entirely speculative, of course. But such possibilities, remote though they are, still provide us with minute quantities of intellectual fodder, and maybe somewhat more broadly than popular representations of “ancient astronauts” in various media today.

One big question about life in our ancient universe entails whether the building blocks for life existed there too, rather than merely the possibility of planets capable of housing life. Based on our self knowledge, we know life can exist today, which strangely, might also be a bit theoretical when we consider the remote chance that our own existence might be a fluke, resulting in a singular one-off we call humanity, as suggested last year by physicist Brian Greene (which is novel, considering that Greene has in the past also given consideration to a multiverse; this begs the question whether dimensions parallel to our own might be any more capable of bearing the fruit of life than this one is).

If we’re the only ones, perhaps the bigger question we should be asking today is whether we’ve always been the only ones, or perhaps whether at different times throughout the history of our Universe, different alien civilizations were the sole inhabitants of the cosmos for extended periods themselves, coping with frustration similar to our own so far as attempting to reconcile with whether or not others may exist.

Perhaps the only chance of finding evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth is the hope that, one day, rather than life that coexists with us in the Universe now, we may find evidence of life that once existed. Even if that were all we found, would it really require a living planetary civilization elsewhere to confirm our hopes and expectations about alien life? If anything, it might supply us with all the answers we need, and without the worry espoused by the likes of Stephen Hawking, who has warned of the dangers present in relations we may eventually have with alien civilizations.